“I’m making progress on it,” Drake said with a smile Wednesday night at the Grammy nominations concert 1627480 in Los Angeles, where he’d just learned — to his surprise — that he’s up for two awards. “I’m hoping for March now. It’s just pulling everybody together: I had a wish list for my managers of everybody I wanted involved that stem beyond hip-hop. I’m trying to pull it all together.”

One of the top names on his list is a legendary vocalist who recently announced she’ll be releasing her first new album in almost a decade.

“I’m really trying to work with Sade,” he revealed. “Lil Wayne will be on it. Young Jeezy, Jay-Z, Kanye will be doing work on it. It’s in the family.”

There is one other guest that he elected to be coy about. “It’s this other one I’m excited about that’s kinda left [field],” he demurred. “It’s gonna be a great project — well-rounded.”

Drake also took a moment to reflect on just how much those Grammy nominations — both of which are for “Best I Ever Had,” a song from his mixtape/ unofficial debut LP So Far Gone mixtape/ album — mean to him.

“Whether I take them home or not, this is an amazing moment for me,” he said. “Everybody knows the Grammys are the awards to receive as a musician. It symbolizes not popularity, but great music. Also, Grammys are what kept me up at night while I was in high school. Grammys are why I work so hard. This is the goal: to win a Grammy. If it happens, it’ll be [marked off of my] life checklist.”